The OOD 34 aka Contessa 34 was designed by Doug Peterson in the mid 1970's as an offshore one design, under IOR.

The construction is slightly unusual in that they were one of the first examples of resin infusion, a process I believe was invented by Colin Chapman of Lotus Cars. Basically, there where two mould tools which where gel coated, the fibres and foam laid and then once the moulds had been brought together the resin was drawn in under vaccum.

Typical of an IOR boat, good to windward, not so hot downwind. Suffered a very bad press following the 1979 Fastnet Race. Some of the problems could be directly attributed to the oversized storm jib carried; a sneak past the headsail limitation rule then in force.

Not to be confused with either the David Sadler designed Contessa 32 or the Rob Humphrys Contessa 33.

The OOD 34 aka Contessa 34 was designed by Doug Peterson in the mid 1970's as an offshore one design, under IOR.

The construction is slightly unusual in that they were one of the first examples of resin infusion, a process I believe was invented by Colin Chapman of Lotus Cars. Basically, there where two mould tools which where gel coated, the fibres and foam laid and then once the moulds had been brought together the resin was drawn in under vaccum.

Typical of an IOR boat, good to windward, not so hot downwind. Suffered a very bad press following the 1979 Fastnet Race. Some of the problems could be directly attributed to the oversized storm jib carried; a sneak past the headsail limitation rule then in force.

Not to be confused with either the David Sadler designed Contessa 32 or the Rob Humphrys Contessa 33.

Sestina: I have a feeling this one is not really worth chasing down, although there is one nearby I might take a look just for comparison while shopping. I did find find a boat that is perfect on paper but its a 6 hour drive to have a look and the seller says he has no digital camera therefore no pictures to put online. Hard to believe but possible. Even if it looks to be the perfect boat I am unsure about finding a surveyor for the boat and diesel expert to trust about the Yanmar.

Sounds like this perfect-on-paper boat is being sold by owner, rather than through a brokerage? Are there any other boats in the vicinity that you could look at, for comparison purposes even if you might not really be interested in them, so as to make the 6-hour drive worthwhile? Maybe there are SailNet (edit: Oops, I meant Cruisers Forum!) denizens located closer to the boat than you are that would be willing to go take a first look and send you some pictures? (Just tell us where!)

Cat-
The boat is in Oxnard, CA, on the northern edge of Los Angeles. Yes, being sold by owner. The boat is currently on the hard and he is making some additions and repairs. The owner states that he has extensive blue water experience and that he is also a qualified surveyor and is certain the boat is seaworthy since he has owned for the last 6 years. If there is anyone in the forum who is in the area, sending me photo's would be quite a favor. I have just sent him an email saying I think it important that he send me detailed photo's.

That may or may not be true, but unless you're buying this as a project boat (and maybe even then), you'ld be well advised to hire your own surveyor.

Of course. I mentioned only because it is a statement by a seller. An objective survey is mandatory of course. Locating an excellent surveyor outside of one's backyard might be risky. If it goes that far I'll phoneboatyards and brokers to see if several recommend the same person; this is my best idea so far.

Of course. I mentioned only because it is a statement by a seller. An objective survey is mandatory of course. Locating an excellent surveyor outside of one's backyard might be risky. If it goes that far I'll phoneboatyards and brokers to see if several recommend the same person; this is my best idea so far.

If the boat is important to you and expensive, the cost of flying your surveyor to the boat is not that big of a deal. I know of numerous cases where that happens. The guy who surveyed our boat travels the world on jobs. The boat owner a few slips down from me sent his surveyor 3000 miles to check on boat before closing the sale.

If he was looking at an OOD34, the boat is probably not so expensive that flying in a surveyor can be justified.

Here's my suggestion about finding a surveyor in a remote location: first find a yacht club or other sailing organization in the area, ask folks there who the good service yards are, then approach the managers at the most highly recommended boat yards and ask them who they would choose to survey their own boat.

No, it's not the Contessa OOD, which would be affordable if it was a cruiser. This one is a medium heavy cruiser that sounds great but the boat has no nav gear at all or a Monitor, no electronics of any kind in fact, nothing but a vhf. Sails are not bagged out - I am told- but not new by any means and even so not a full suit to get by on for a year or more. Upper shrouds replaced several years ago but the other standing rigging is probably original. No stove/oven, water maker, no circuit panel....in short, there's a fast 15k to 20k before I ever leave the harbor. No dink (and its a wheel boat not a tiller which I would far prefer to have) and for heaven's sake the seller can't be bothered with photo's? Forgot to mention the saleprice of the boat far exceeds my idea of a "project boat" cost. Seller sounds like a very decent sort of guy but this is probably the wrong deal for me even if the boat itself is completely sound. I think this one should go to someone with a larger budget. If it heats up on different terms I'll let you fellows know. Thanks for your thoughts, which are always welcome.

Oakland Sailor I think there was one of those designs for sale on D dock Richmond Marina Bay a couple of months ago.The owner may have been a sailmaker.If you dont already know about this boat you could phone Quantum sails at Brickyard cove.Owners name might be Sam.I saw it and it had a tiller.

Nonam-
That's the actual boat I was referring to but I have learned that it would be a poor choice as as voyager/liveaboard. Thank you for the heads-up, though. What I hope to find -among several others- is an Allied Luders 33 or Allied Seabreeze 35, possibly a Downeaster 32 somewhere near enough to get aboard (San Francisco bay).

Oakland Sailor, I've just remembered that you'll need to take a close look at the keel.

Instead of having a solid lump of lead bolted to the hull, there's a hollow, flanged fibreglass keel into which the shaped ballast is fitted and glassed in. The flange is then bolted through to the hull structure.

On the boat I looked at, which had suffered grounding damage, extra keel bolts had been fitted on the centreline. Unfortunately, they had been fitted straight through the foam ring frames with out sealing the foam. As a result the foam was waterlogged. The boat failed its survey on this point.

Sestina-
Thanks for that info. By the way, it sounds like you are in the bay area. If so, and you know a really good surveyor perhaps you'd send his/her name. Something will turn up and it'd be good to have someone to call.